For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

For departing out of Raphidim, and coming to the desert of Sinai, they camped in the same place, and there Israel pitched their tents over against the mountain.

And when they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the wilderness of Sinai, they pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

For they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount.

and they journey from Rephidim, and enter the wilderness of Sinai, and encamp in the wilderness; and Israel encampeth there before the mount.

And when they had gone away from Rephidim and had come into the waste land of Sinai, they put up their tents in the waste land before the mountain: there Israel put up its tents.

When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they camped in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mountain.

Thus, setting out from Raphidim, and going directly to the desert of Sinai, they encamped in the same place, and there Israel pitched their tents away from the region of the mountain.

Profecti ergo e Raphidim venerunt in desertum Sinai, et castrametati sunt in deserto: mansitque illic Israel e regione montis.

For they were departed from Rephidim,.... After they had fought with Amalek, and came to the western part of the mount to Horeb, where the rock was smitten for them; and they were come from that now, and encamped at Sinai, after Jethro had paid a visit to Moses:
and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in this wilderness; that is, of Sinai, as in the preceding verse:
and there Israel encamped before the mount; Mount Sinai, from whence the desert or wilderness was called. This, as Jarchi says, was on the east side of the mount; Horeb and Sinai were but one and the same mountain, which had two tops. Horeb was on the western side, near to which lay the plain of Rephidim; and Sinai was on the eastern side, on which the wilderness of that name bordered: so that the children of Israel, when they came from Rephidim, came from the western side, and took a circuit about and came to the eastern; which, according to a fore mentioned writer, was eight miles, and was the twelfth station or mansion of the children of Israel. This number twelve is taken notice of by some, as having something singular and peculiar in it; there were the twelve tribes of Israel, and at their twelfth mansion the law was given them; Christ had twelve apostles, and there are twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem, and 12,000 were sealed out of every tribe of Israel.

were come to the desert of Sinai--The desert has its provinces, or divisions, distinguished by a variety of names; and the "desert of Sinai" is that wild and desolate region which occupies the very center of the peninsula, comprising the lofty range to which the mount of God belongs. It is a wilderness of shaggy rocks of porphyry and red granite, and of valleys for the most part bare of verdure.
and there Israel camped before the mount--Sinai, so called from Seneh, or acacia bush. It is now called Jebel Musa. Their way into the interior of the gigantic cluster was by Wady Feiran, which would lead the bulk of the hosts with their flocks and herds into the high valleys of Jebel Musa, with their abundant springs, especially into the great thoroughfare of the desert--the longest, widest, and most continuous of all the valleys, the Wady-es-Sheikh, while many would be scattered among the adjacent valleys; so that thus secluded from the world in a wild and sublime amphitheatre of rocks, they "camped before the mount." "In this valley--a long flat valley--about a quarter of a mile in breadth, winding northwards, Israel would find ample room for their encampment. Of all the wadys in that region, it seems the most suitable for a prolonged sojourn. The 'goodly tents' of Israel could spread themselves without limit" [BONAR].